In this feature, we will teach you how to block a website on the computer ( Window and macOS) and also on the mobile phone ( Android and iOS).
If you feel a website is inappropriate, a waste of valuable time, or disturbing in some way for your child. So you can block websites on any platforms such as Android, iOS and, windows. You can block a website via third-party apps or using the phone or computer’s system.
However, the good news is there are many ways to block access to certain time-consuming or explicit websites, whether you want to restrict access altogether or only during specified hours of the day.
You May Also Like: How to Block a Number on Your iPhone
What You Will Learn Here:
How to Block a Website on Windows Computer
One of the easiest ways to block any website is to alter the Windows hosts file on your computer. By altering the hosts file you can block any websites easily and it works on different browsers including, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer.
The hosts file, a plain text file your operating system utilizes for mapping IP addresses and hostnames, can be used to redirect a domain name back to the local computer, essentially blocking the desired website.
However, this is a great way to restrict and preventing users from seeing the content you don’t want them to see.
Step 1. Press the “Windows” Button and type and Notepad.
Step 2. Right-click Notepad, click “Run as administrator” and click Yes when prompted. The Notepad window will open.
Step 3. Click File. It’s in the top-left corner of the window and then click Open.
Step 4. Select “local disk C” driver and double-click on Windows file on the left-hand side.
Step 5. Find “System32″ and double-click on it.
Step 6. Find “drivers” and open.
Step 7. Open the “etc” file.
Step 8. Click the “Text Documents (*.txt)” box. It’s in the lower-right side of the window. A drop-down menu will appear and click All Files.
Step 9. Double-click on “hosts” to open
Step 10. Copy the code “127. 0. 0. 1″ and Create a new line at the bottom of the document.
Step 11. Paste the code “127. 0. 0. 1″ then press the space button and Add a website to block in your computer’s browsers, when you are finished, click on File and select Save.
Example 1: 127. 0. 0. 1 www.facebook.com
Example 2: 127. 0. 0. 1 www.youtube.com
Also Read: How to Block a Phone Number on your Android Phone
How to Block Websites on Chrome Android
If you often using the web via Google Chrome on your Android device, you might need to block certain websites to ensure increased productivity at all times of the day.
Step 1. Download the “Blocksite” app from Play Store.
Step 2. Open the Blocksite app on your mobile device and tap “Go to settings” when prompted. The app will take you to your phone’s app settings. You’ll need to enable the app for it to assume control of your browser and block the websites you don’t want to see.
Step 3. With the BlockSite app enabled, return to the app and tap the green “+” icon. This will open a page where you can block either a website or a mobile app by entering the name of each into the search bar.
Step 4. Enter the full URL of the website you want to block and you’ll see a green tick mark. Tap it, and you will have successfully blocked this website.
How to Block Website On Mac
Blocking websites using MacOS works in a similar to blocking them using Windows. The process is is, relatively quick, and just requires to alter your Mac’s hosts file to redirect a specified domain name. It’s an easy process that will definitely prevent users from seeing content that you might deem block-worthy across browsers.
Meanwhile, if you want to remove back the blocked websites, the process is as easy as blocking website.
Step 1. Make sure you have administrator access to your Mac. Now open “Terminal”.
Step 2. Type “sudo nano /etc/hosts” and press enter. Enter the user (login) password when prompted.
Step 3. This will open the file /etc/hosts in a text editor. Type the name of the website in a new line in this format “127. 0. 0.1 www.facebook.com.
If you want to add more website, then continue adding more websites you wish to block in this manner, each beginning with “127. 0. 0. 1.” followed by a space and the appropriate website.
Step 4. When finished, hold down the “Control” key and press “X” and press “Y” to save the file.
How to Block Website on iPhone and iPad
Fortunately, Apple is mainly known for its tight security and has some handy and useful parental control tools that allow you to block inappropriate websites.
Step 1. Go to “Settings“.
Step 2. Scroll down and select “General“.
Step 3. Select “Restrictions“.
Step 4. Tap on “Enable Restrictions“. Now set a passcode for restrictions.
Step 5. After the passcode is set, scroll down and tap “Websites” under Allowed Content.
Step 6. If you want to block a specific website select “specific websites only“.
Step 7. In specific websites only, there’s a shortlist of allowed websites including Discovery Kids and Disney, but you can also add sites by tapping on Add a Website.
Conclusion: This guide should have helped you block websites on almost any device. However, if you know any other method to block a website, you can mention it in a comment below, we will be grateful to you.
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